Code Lyoko: XANA's Wrath 1
by minimikeshinoda
Summary: Basically just a continuation of Code Lyoko despite Evolution. This is the first "season".
1. Return of XANA

**This is my first fanfic, and my only probably, as this is going to take me probably over a year to finish. This has been in the works for over 4 years. So yes, I've refined it for four years. In addition, the Overglide is purely coincidentally the same idea as James The Lesser's.**

* * *

The Return of XANA Part 1

"Aelita, Aelita! Help me!"

Aelita desperately reached out to her father, to no avail. He just moved farther away. She couldn't reach him. He began to fade away right before her eyes.

"Daddy! No!" Aelita ran after her fading father, she wouldn't lose him this time, she was almost there…

_Bang!_

"Miss Stones! Others are trying to sleep! If this continues night after night we'll have to see the principal about this!" Jim bellowed, waking Aelita immediately. Her nightmares had started the week after the gang shut the Supercomputer down, and now they wouldn't stop, they only got worse. It had been two weeks now. Opting to skip on another visit from Jim, Aelita stayed awake until morning

* * *

Odd awoke to Ulrich's complaints and groaning. Kiwiwas out on his roommate's bed, drooling and trying to lick Ulrich's face.

"Stop it you mutt! I don't know where you put that tongue! Odd! Control your dog!"

Odd stifled a laugh and patted his thighs. "Come here Kiwi!"

Kiwi leaped off Ulrich's bed and jumped into Odd's lap. Odd scratched his dog's stomach. "That's my diggity-dog."

Ulrich sighed. "Kiwi's getting out of control, Odd. All he wants to do is get in my bed now."

"Well, maybe he just wants to be friends. You haven't paid much attention to him lately."

Ulrich lifted his sheets, revealing a large wet spot. "This is how he makes friends?"

"How do I know you didn't do that?" Odd said. Ulrich said nothing more. Odd put on his clothes and headed for the door. "Coming? You won't wanna be late breakfast, otherwise I'll tell Rosa you said I could have your food."

Ulrich got up off his bed. "Alright, I'm coming." He pulled on his jacket and pants and followed after Odd. They arrived at the cafeteria to find it nearly full already.

"Wow, did I sleep that late? Odd asked.

"Yeah, I'd been screaming at you for at least a half-hour when you woke up." Ulrich replied. He got his food and went to go sit with Jeremie and Aelita.

"Morning everyone. You look rather bright today Aelita," Ulrich said, noting Aelita's rather gloomy expression.

"She won't talk to me," Jeremie said. "I don't know what's gotten into her."

Odd looked at Aelita. "Comon, Princess, you can tell us. We're your friends, we can help. Was it Sissi? I can prank her real good if…"

"I don't want to talk about it!" Aelita screamed, silencing the entire cafeteria. She stormed out. Yumi walked over just about then, and having seen the whole thing, sat down without saying anything.

"Well that was a bit unnecessary," Odd said. "She left her food here."

"If you worried as much about the girls you dated as your stomach Odd you'd probably have a girlfriend," Yumi joked. Ulrich and Jeremie chuckled, still a bit unnerved by Aelita's behavior. William sat up and made his way over, leaving Christophe and Emmanuel and sitting down next to Yumi.

"Hey guys. I heard y'all shut down the Supercomputer."

"Where did you hear that? I doubt Sissi told you _that_." Jeremie said.

Odd shifted in his seat. "Certainly not from a spiky-haired kid with purple in his hair…"

"Doesn't really matter now anyways. We shut it down and XANA's gone, that's the end of it." Yumi glared at William. "And don't even start with me, after what you put us through with XANA."

* * *

Aelita, meanwhile, was at the Factory, about to send herself to Lyoko. She had to find out if her father was still alive. The nightmares had to stop. She stepped in the scanner and the doors closed behind her.

She landed in Sector 5. This was the first place she would look. She made her way to the elevator and got off at the user interface. Aelita looked through data tirelessly, but couldn't find anything suggesting that her father was still alive.

"No, please Daddy, you have to be alive." Aelita looked through more data. Still nothing. She finally gave up. Her father was gone.

But then a voice she only knew from her memories came.

"Aelita."

It was her father.

* * *

"Aelita, it's me. Help me."

"Daddy!"

"I am weak, I need power or I will vanish."

Aelita brought the interface back up, diverting power from towers to give to her father.

"There. That should do it," Aelita said. "Is that better Daddy?"

The purple orb changed into a black mist. "Oh yes. Much better Aelita. Thank you."

"XANA! No! This can't be!"

"Oh but it is. And now I have enough power to do this."

A white light enveloped Sector 5 and soon spread from the lab outward. Aelita then found herself back at breakfast.

"What?" How did we get back here?" Jeremie sat dumbfounded.

"There was a white light, but it couldn't have been a return to the past. The supercomputer is shut down,." Yumi said.

Aelita amidst the confusion slipped out the cafeteria. "This can't be. How could I be so stupid?"

Meanwhile, the others were still discussing the jump in time.

"Who knows, it could have been XANA. He wasn't confined to Lyoko when we shut it down."

"But we destroyed him!" Yumi replied to Jeremie, "Can people rise from the dead? No. Neither can XANA."

"We should still check it out maybe," William suggested. "Just in case."

"All in favor of going to factory say I." Jeremie along with everyone but Yumi did so. "To the factory it is Yumi, sorry."

Odd ran to the door. "We lost Aelita. I'll go find her."

The rest of the group made their way to the forest and to the sewers. They arrived at the factory and took the elevator to the lab.

Jeremie looked at the activated screen. "It's on." But how did it launch a return trip. He pulled up the security footage. A familiar figure sat down at the monitor and began typing.

Yumi was shocked. "She didn't..."

"She did. But she didn't activate the trip. It was our good friend...XANA."

* * *

Aelita flung herself into her pillow and cried. Everything was her fault. She had just given power to a domination-obsessed evil virus.

"Aelita?" Odd knocked at her door. "I know you're in there."

"Come in." Aelita dried her face and sat up in her bed.

"Do you know what's going on Aelita? With the return trip out of nowhere?"

"The supercomputer had to have been it."

"Was it you that reactivated the supercomputer? It's alright to tell me, I like fighting on Lyoko anyway."

Aelita just nodded and remained silent, the guilt eating away at her.

"I'm not mad I promise. But why did you do it exactly?"

"I had to know if my father was alive. You guys don't know what it's like. On holidays you go home to your families and have fun. I sit in the Hermitage by myself. When XANA tricked me into giving him power, I couldn't bear to tell you all because you're the only people there for me. I just can't..."

The door flied open.

"Aelita!" Jeremie stormed in the room. "How could you undo all that work we did to destroy XANA! What were you thinking!"

Odd immediately stepped between Aelita and Jeremie. "Cool it, Einstein. She was looking for the only family she has. Try understanding."

"We worked for more than two years fighting XANA! I flunked classes, Ulrich gave up playing soccer, and Yumi almost completely lost the trust of her parents! William got taken as a slave! Yet she'd rather let us go through that again than accept that XANA killed her father!"

Odd pushed Jeremie out the door and punched him in the gut.

"For working for a year to free her, you act like you don't care at all." Jeremie clutched his gut. "Say anything like that again and I'll do worse than bruise your stomach, you hear me?"

Jeremie stood up and left. He passed William, who came up to Odd casually.

"So, XANA's back. Does this mean we have to fight again?"

"I don't know if Jeremie will at this point. But if he attacks, we'll go with Aelita. I'm sure Ulrich will too."

William smiled. "I can get XANA back now at least."

"Yeah, you can. And I kind of missed Lyoko. After we shut it down, no video game interested me. It's like torture. I'm glad in a way that we'll be fighting again."

"I hear ya. I hear you asked that new girl Catherine out. What'd she say?"

"Actually she said once she gets settled in here that she'd be happy to. And this was after the other girls told her all the stuff about me."

"Sounds like a keeper. See you around, Odd." William strolled off.

"Yeah, see you William."

* * *

At breakfast the next morning, the tension in the air was palpable. Jeremie and Yumi made a point to sit across from Aelita and Odd. Ulrich and William stayed without an opinion on the matter.

William was first to break the silence. "How are we going to know if XANA is attacking?"

Jeremie nearly growled the words, staring daggers at Odd and Aelita. "I spent all night reprogramming my computer to hook up to the SuperScan."

William said nothing more, not wanting to start any more dispute.

The gang finished their meal in silence and headed to class. It had been a year since they had gone to class having to worry about a XANA attack. And most of those weren't good memories.

They were in the middle of a lecture from Mr. Boudreaux when Jeremie's computer beeped.

"Mr. Belpois, is there a problem?"

"No sir, please continue."

Spanish class finished ten minutes later. Jeremie and Ulrich rushed to the lunchroom to meet the others.

"XANA's launched his first attack guys."

"What is it?" Yumi asked.

"Don't know yet. And I don't want to find out."

Sissi's scream echoed through the lunchroom. "What are you doing Nicholas! Get away!"

Sissi ran up to Ulrich. "Help me. Nicholas attacked me."

"Sissi, just because we let you hang out with us doesn't mean you get exclusive touching rights, please let go." Ulrich pushed Sissi a little to make his point.

Nicholas ran at Ulrich and tackled him. Ulrich fought back, using defensive moves he learned in Pencack Silat. He noted the eye of XANA in his eyes.

"He's possessed by XANA, get to the factory!"

"Let's go," Jeremie said. Leaving Sissi, Ulrich and the possessed Nicholas in the cafeteria, the group made their way to the manhole in the sewers. For William, this would only be the second time going to Lyoko, so he stayed behind the others so he didn't lose his way.

Upon arriving at the lab, Jeremie sent William, Odd, and Yumi first, then Aelita.

"The Mountains. We never really saw much of this sector really." Odd noted some minor changes to his outfit. "These yours, Jeremie?"

"Yes, I gave each of you something new to use. Odd, your gloves are now made of metal and your claws are much stronger now. They can retract and extend as well for close quarters as well.

"Aelita has gained an immobilizer which can stun monsters for a period of time.

"William, in addition to his old XANA powers which he is now stuck with, as well as the outfit, has gained two small daggers.

"I gave Yumi invisibilty that works similarly to her telekenesis. It wears her out, but as long as she can keep sustaining it she'll be invisible.

"And although Ulrich isn't here, I added a laser which fires from his katanas."

"Sounds pretty tight," William said. "Where's the tower?"

"It's very close, in fact it's below you."

Aelita walked over to a small hole in the middle of the platform, spotting the tower. It was, as Jeremie said, right below them.

"It's down there. But we'll need the vehicles."

"I'm on it. Materializing the Overvehicles. Aelita can fly down."

The Overbike, Overboard, and Overwing materialized and Aelita activated her wings.

"Oh how I missed you Overboard," Odd said as he climbed on and began to fly on the unwheeled skateboard down to the platform below.

Upon landing at the tower, Aelita saw no monsters. She proceeded to enter the tower at float up to the second platform. She placed her hand on the interface and deactivated the tower.

"There were no monsters Jeremie. Why is that?"

"I don't know. You certainly gave XANA enough power to materialize monsters on your little excursion. I'll launch the return trip." He started the program. "Return to the past...now."

* * *

**Please review I worked four years to make this fanfiction and I'd really like to see it be good.**


	2. The Basilisk

**Goodness, forever since the last update. I feel so ashamed. But I watched half of Season 4 yesterday, so I have a way better feel for writing this today.**

Episode 2: The Basilisk

Once again, Odd found Jeremie asleep at his computer. He considered doing something to him, but chose not to, as the keyboard imprint all over his face was enough to laugh at.

Meanwhile, XANA was taking care of business. Its prediction was a very correct one. Team Lyoko had followed it to the letter. He had not sent any monsters because he was busy creating his newest demon, and all Team Lyoko had done was search the Network for activity. But it was right under their noses. The monster would be able to freely think...and even speak. Now the creation was complete.

"XANA, you may proceed with the plan. I am ready," Basilisk said. He was an ugly thing, scaled and spined from his clawed feet to his head. He had no lower arms, rather appendages with swords at the end. Within his mouth, he concealed a laser, much like a Creeper's, but far more powerful.

XANA activated a tower and prepared to launch his attack.

Jeremie awoke to his computer beeping rapidly.

"Oh no...not now...I was just starting to reprogram the Skid..." Jeremie reached for his phone and called the others.

"XANA attack? What's the attack then?" Odd asked when he got to calling him.

"I don't know yet. Nothing has malfunctioned, and nothing has tried killing us yet."

"_Yet._ I'm on my way to the Factory with Ulrich."

"See you there," Jeremie said as he hung up. He flung open his door and rushed out the dormitory. He was just about to the sewer entrance when something lashed out and attacked him.

"It seems XANA was right about your level of intellect. You may be smart, but not flawless enough to outwit the master."

"Wh-what are you?"

"Since William is no longer at XANA's disposal, I was created. I am far superior to any of you maggots. You will learn to call me Basilisk."

A tree snapped, and a log came flying at XANA's new creation, knocking it back, spines sticking into the ground.

William came flying out of the tree and land on the ground with a thud. Basilisk began getting itself up, ejecting its stuck spines.

"Let's go Jeremie, don't stand there like a deer!" The two of them hurried down to the sewer and made their way to the factory. As they arrived in the lab, they found only Aelita and Yumi there.

"Where are Odd and Ulrich?" Jeremie asked. "They said they were on their way!"

"Razor boy might have gotten ahold of them," William suggested, "but there's no time to lose, send us."

"Alright, get to the scanners on the double. I'll send the Overvehicles when you virtualize."

Jeremie vitualized them, and the three landed in the Desert on their vehicles.

"Nice one, Jeremie," Yumi said.

"Thank you, thank you, it was nothing. The tower"s not far, head north."

"Roger, Commander." William took off on the Overbike.

"Still as hotheaded as when he first came," Aelita said to herself, flying alongside Yumi on the Overboard.

It wasn't long until XANA sent the first of his welcoming committee. Two Tarantulas and three Krabes stood around an activated tower.

"I can take the Krabes," William said. He stretched his hand out and his Zweihander appeared out of black smoke. He put it over his shoulder and charged the three Krabes, while Aelita and Yumi attacked the Tarantulas.

William made circles around the Krabes on the Overbike, trying to slice their legs, but he was too clumsy with his large sword to be accurate. He circled around again, only for a Krabe to lash out at the Overbike with its scythe lags and send it flying sideways. The Krabes fired at William, but his sword was large enough to absorb all the shots.

"Super Smoke!" William dissipated into smoke and traveled through ground, while the Krabes tried to shoot the black approaching them. He rematerialized underneath one and stabbed it's underbelly with one of his daggers, then summoned his Zweihander. He charged the sword and fired the energy blast at another Krabe. Unfortunately, the monster dodged the blast and it kept traveling toward Yumi and Aelita, battling the Tarantulas.

"Look out!" William cried. Yumi flipped backwards out the way, but a Tarantula fired at her.

"Yumi, that's another 20 life points!" Jeremie cried. "One more hit and you'll be devirtualized!"

"William! Whose side are you on!" Yumi cried. William ingored the remark as he continued battling the Krabes. The two tried stabbing him with their legs, but he used Super Smoke to avoid them. Coming up behind one, he slammed his Zweihander into the ground, and launched himself off the handle, onto the Krabe's back.

The Krabe did not take to kindly to its passenger. It charged its back at the tower, trying to crush William. He leaped off and underneath the monster, but its underbelly began glowing blue.

"Uh-oh..." William leaped out of the way as the Krabe fired the pulse. A laser from its partner whizzed by. He retrieved his Zweihander, deflecting the shots from the other Krabe, and sliced off his riding beast's back legs. Immobilized, the Krabe could do nothing as William drove his sword into its Eye.

Glancing over to Aelita and Yumi, he saw Aelita take a shot to the torso. Ignoring the remaining Krabe and easily defelcting its shots, he rushed over to the Tarantulas. He recalled his sword and pulled out his dual daggers.

"Enter the dashing hero!" William leaped on one of the Tarantulas' backs, digging his daggers into it as it bucked and roared violently.

"Aelita, try immobilizing it," Jeremie suggested, reminding her of the new power he had given her.

"How?" She didn't see anything different that would control such a power.

"Focus on the Tarantula and imagine it being frozen. That should work."

Aelita complied, closing her eyes and seeing the Tarantula frozen. Then, abruptly, the vision disappeared. She opened her eyes to see last of the explosion. She opened her mouth to say something, but a laser slammed into her, and she fragmented into data.

"Oh no! Aelita's been devirtualized!" Jeremie's hands flew across the keyboard. "See if you can hold out long enough for me to send her back!"

"Easy for you to say!" Yumi replied, as she deflected a laser from a Krabe. William sliced the legs off of the remaining Tarantula with his Zweihander and stabbed it in the Eye.

"Here, let me try something," he said. "But first..." He shot black smoke at the Krabe, seizing it, and threw it over the plateau. A stream of energy shot up from the Void.

William entered the Tower as Aelita would. He could remember XANA doing it when he was possessed. He floated up to the second platform and the interface appeared.

"What are you doing William?" Jeremie asked William ignored him, placing his hand on the interface. It lingered there for a second, then it displayed WILLIAM, followed by CODE LYOKO. The tower became dark.

"Return trip anyone?" A white bubble expanded outwards.

The return trip brought them back to morning. Jeremie woke up over his keyboard again. He made his way to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror, only to find is face covered in marker, with hearts, a goatee, and wrinkles drawn on him.

"ODD!" Jeremie yelled. Outside, Ulrich and Odd laughed hysterically.

**Boom. About time I updated. I considered telling what happened to Ulrich and Odd, but I'm sure you readers can draw conclusions.**


	3. The Lines Are Drawn

**Alright these are going to be much longer than the first two. I'll probably go in and mash the first four chapters into one soon. I finally found my notebook with all my lists of the XANA attack, the sector it occurs, topography of the sector, and everything. I actually jumped the gun and mashed two plots together last time, so I need to rearrange.**

Episode 3: The Lines Are Drawn

The gang was all gathered in Jeremie's room. The first order of business was to discuss how William had deactivated the tower.

"When William deactivated the tower yesterday, it hardly surprised me. I figured that XANA's editing of William's digital profile would resurface in more than just his outfit. It was clear from his Super Smoking that he retained the power that he had under XANA."

Aelita added, "William does have a lot of power. I think XANA might try to take the power away from William so that his monsters can keep up."

William interrupted, "But why do that if he can just make new monsters to gain the advantage?"

"That's what _I'm_ afraid of," Jeremie said. "XANA might be diverting his power elsewhere, and if he isn't active on Lyoko, it must mean it's in the Network...which means he might be creating more Replikas.

"Which is why I've been busy reprogramming the Skidbladnir. We'll need to try to find XANA's base of operations and hit where it hurts. However, as always, the Skidbladnir is vulnerable during this time. Since classes let off early tomorrow, I propose somebody goes to guard the Skid on Lyoko while I work in the lab to finish the shields and a few NavSkid adjustments . Now, we can draw names from a hat or something-"

"I'll go." William raised his hand casually. He knew this was his chance to prove himself, to Yumi and the others.

"Alright then, meet me at the lunchroom at 12 tomorrow and we'll go."

William nodded. He was determined to show that he was a capable warrior by himself and could be trusted. And with that, Odd ran to the door.

"Going somewhere in a hurry, Odd?" Ulrich grinned. "The last time you were this excited was when we had steak for lunch."

"No, it's not food this time." Odd reached for the handle.

Ulrich batted his hand down. "Oh, is it a girl? You weren't this enthusiastic about a girl since Sam was here."

Odd rolled his eyes at the remark and pushed Ulrich aside, opening the door and dashing down the hallway. The new girl at Kadic, Catherine Yves, agreed to meet him after school. She was a fairly shy girl, but looked great. She came off as a rather dainty person to Odd, never speaking a word unless directly spoken to, and it perplexed him. He wasn't used to this kind of behavior.

He reached the bottom of the stairs and exploded out the building. Odd could spot Catherine from a mile away with her long, pale blonde hair. She paced back and forth and frequently looked over her shoulder, as if she was afraid of being seen. Odd stood against a pillar for a moment to catch his breath, then strolled up to her.

"Hey there," Odd said, as casually as possible. He was surprised at how concerned he was for how he presented himself..

"Hi Odd," she replied quietly. "You're a little bit late..."

"Yeah, I know. But my friend Jeremie wanted to uh, help me study for a Latin test."

"But I thought you said that was your best subject."

_Idiot!_

"Well, Jeremie wasn't really helping me 'study', we were just reviewing because he wanted to see how the language worked. But I said 'studying' to be simple."

"Oh. I didn't mean for it to sound like that, I was just confused..."

"No, it's fine. Anyway, have you heard about the dance in a month or so?"

"No, I haven't.."

"Oh, well, I don't have a date, and I was just wondering if you would want to go with me. Nothing serious."

"Uh...I don't know...no one ever really...I don't..."

"I'll give you time to think. Maybe we can meet tomorrow when classes end?"

"Okay."

Odd winked at her. "See ya around." Once she was out of hearing range, kicked the dirt. "Helping me study for Latin, what an idiot!" His stomach rumbled. "Lunch is the number one solution for a confused mind. I wonder what they're having..."

The next day, William had quite the hard time staying focused in his classes. In geometry his mind wandered off, thinking about how he could save the Skidbladnir if it came under attack, and finally earn Yumi's trust. The teacher brought him back into reality, however.

"Mr. Dunbar, would you like to elaborate on where your mind is wandering? I hope it has to do with parallelograms."

William decided it was best to keep his mind in the present for the time being. But by 11:50, he was ready to leap out his seat. Finally, the bell rang, and William shot out of the classroom. He made his way to the side of the lunchroom, but upon his hearing his stomach making noises, went inside and took a plate of food. He sat down with Odd and hurriedly ate a few bites of his food, then got up.

"All yours, Della Robbia," he said, and pushed his plate. He walked outside. Spotting Jeremie, he hurried over.

"I have everything ready. I stayed up last night making some new additions to the Skid." Jeremie gestured to the forest. "After you."

William and Jeremie walked through the trees to the manhole. There was no particular hurry without XANA attacking. They made their way through sewers, onto the bridge, and into the factory. Upon entering the elevator, Jeremie broke the silence that had been upon them since Kadic.

"What was it like, when you were possessed? Did you realize it? Or were you just completely out of it?"

William looked at Jeremie, really wishing that the topic had not been brought up. Jeremie took the hint and said no more as the elevator stopped at the lab. He stepped out and made his way to the monitor. William continued down to the scanner room.

He stepped into the middle scanner. As it closed behind him, he felt a surge of excitement. He wouldn't mess up his first solo mission. The virtualization started, and he then found himself in the arena of Sector 5. The blue walls around him stopped rotating, and a path opened in front of him. William charged down the hallway, coming out in the Core Zone as the elevator approached the platform. It roared to halt and he stepped on. The elevator started back on its course as fast as it stopped. He watched as the Skidbladnir slowly came into view.

"How does she look, William?"

"I would say it looks sea worthy. Nothing wrong from what I can see." The elevator stopped, and William stepped onto the dock. "Now what?"

"You stand there and wait while I finish with upgrading the shielding."

"Patrol work, oh boy." William summoned his Zweihander and dragged it across the ground, pacing back and forth. He soon grew tired of this, and planted the huge sword into the ground, leaning on it, observing the moving binary on the platform.

After fifteen minutes, William heard a loud screeching noise. Jeremie cut in, sounding a bit frantic.

"XANA's activated a tower, but I can't seem to locate it! And to make matters worse, you've got company-some Mantas and your old buddy, the Scyphozoa."

At Kadic, Odd was talking with Catherine again. She seemed to be getting more used to him. They were walking past the dormitory when Odd heard a sound that made his gut wrench-a dog barking.

"Oh no, Kiwi..."

"Who?" Catherine asked.

Odd was about to answer when two German shepherds came charging at him. He ushered Catherine into the the dormitory and closed the door behind him. The dogs jumped and scratched at the door, and Odd caught sight of their eyes, with the Eye of XANA in them. His phone rang.

"Jeremie? Now might not be the best time. You know there's a XANA attack, do you not?"

"I'm aware of it Odd. I can't detect the tower though, and William is busy fleeing from a fleet of Mantas and the Scyphozoa."

"Well there's two dogs possessed by XANA attempting to tear me to pieces right now. I'll come to the factory if I can get out without being attacked."

"Alright then, Yumi, Aelita, and Ulrich just arrived. Good luck."

"Yeah, bye." Odd hung up and grabbed Catherine's wrist, leading her up the stairs. When he reached the second floor, Kiwi pounced on him, barking furiously at the dogs downstairs.

"Kiwi, you couldn't take those two, comon."

On Lyoko, William was having trouble fighting off four Mantas at once. His weapons were great for short-range combat, but not this. He had taken out one Manta, but when he saw the Scyphozoa, he fled as fast as possible. He was still fleeing the Mantas when Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita approached him.

"William!" Yumi exclaimed. "Where are you going?"

"I can't hit these Mantas with my sword. I've been trying to think of something else I can do, but I don't know half of my powers."

Two of the four Mantas flew down, unleashing a volley of shots at the group. Ulrich deflected and moved back behind a platform. He was acting on instinct rather than thought now.

"Triplicate!" Two identical copies of Ulrich formed. The three charged. Seeing floating platforms beside the path, Ulrich nodded to his clones, who followed him up the platforms, higher and higher. One of Ulrich's clones jumped off and threw his sword at a Manta, striking it directly in the Eye. The Manta exploded. The clone dissipated on contact with the ground.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Aelita and Yumi were off trying to find the tower, with William defending against any monsters that materialized along the way.

"The pulsations lead this way," Aelita informed them. They rounded a corner into an open chamber, littered with bright blue floating platforms. At the far end sat the tower, its aura a deep blood red.

"Jeremie, we have some good news," Yumi said.

"I could really use some right now. Ulrich has taken down only two Mantas, and the Skid is under attack from some virus the Scyphozoa implanted in it."

"We found your lost tower here in a chamber," Yumi communicated.

"But there's nothing but odd-looking platforms between us and the tower," Aelita added.

"The vehicles would be a nice gift," William suggested. He certainly was the least agile of the group.

"I'd love to, William, but XANA has my hands full with infecting the Skid. I don't wanna risk letting the virus infect other files in the supercomputer. As soon as I can, I'll send them in."

In the lab, Jeremie's hands furiously flew across the keyboard. The Scyphozoa had infected the Skid's shield program with a virus as soon as Jeremie finished it. Since the virus was obviously not residing in the memory of the Supercomputer, he'd have a harder time finding it among the shield program.

Ulrich, in the meantime, was finally gaining the advantage against the Mantas. He had remembered he could charge his sword and fire a laser, which proved effective against the flying rays. It took a few shots to destroy them when hitting their underbellies, but the Mantas were slowly becoming more aggressive now. The remaining two swooped down to the platform and fired at Ulrich. He dodged and flipped backwards onto the wall, pushing himself off and landing on the nearest monster.

"Woah!" Ulrich had to regain his footing as the Manta tried shaking him off. Rather than destroying it then, he dug one of his swords into its head to keep his balance. The other Manta circled, unsure if it should fire or not. Ulrich seized the opportunity and charged his sword. He swung as when the Manta was closest, and the laser hit it in the Eye. The resulting explosion was satisfying. He then pulled his other sword out of the Manta he was on, stabbed it in the Eye, and jumped off.

"Another one down." Ulrich smiled to himself and Super Sprinted in the direction the others had gone.

While the rest of the gang was busy fighting monsters, Odd was running from two XANA-possessed police dogs. He had managed to evade them by locking the door to the gym behind him, but under XANA, they were bound to bust through any minute. Catherine was unnaturally pale with fear, and Kiwi incessantly barked at the XANAfied dogs from Odd's bag on his back.

The doors banged again as the dogs charged at them. Odd wasted no time getting out of the gym. He grabbed Catherine's hand and ran for the boiler room. He opened the door to the sewers and gestured.

"That's the sewers, Odd. Why are we going there.?"

A loud crash came from the other side of the door. Catherine ran through the door and down the stairway. Odd followed.

Meanwhile, Jeremie was finishing the ordeal with XANA's little virus. Just then, three blips appeared on the map of the Skid hangar.

"Oh no..." Jeremie typed furiously. "That's all we need, Creepers." His remote torpedo launchers were still incomplete, and the Skid's shields were down, It was defenseless. He watched as the Skidbladnir took 120 points of damage from its 900.

"There's gonna be a little delay on the vehicles, guys. I need to shut down some programs do divert power to the Skid's upgrades so I can speed things up."

Ulrich's voice cut in. "It's fine, no sign of trouble of here."

Jeremie closed the Super Scan, phone, and the vehicle programs. As he expected, it sped up the process. The bitrate increased massively with the closing of the Super Scan. The program finished uploading, and Jeremie immediately activated it. He sent three torpedoes at the Creepers. All three blips vanished.

"Bingo! Now just to finish removing this virus..." He watched the screen as he examined the Skid's profile. A glitch appeared in the statistics of the shield program.

"There you are. Time to eliminate you." Jeremie activated the Supercomputer's highly-advanced anti-viral system and targeted the Skid's shield projectors. It made short work of the virus. Jeremie sat back and clasped his hands behind his head, pleased with his work.

The elevator doors opened behind him. As Jeremie turned around, he saw Odd and a tall, blonde girl emerge.

"Odd? What are you doing here? The tower's still activated!" If the tower hadn't been deactivated, that meant the police dogs would still be following Odd.

"We had to escape the dogs. They can't get down the elevator, don't worry."

"But I am worrying, Odd. With XANA something always goes really wrong." Jeremie watched as the girl became more and more confused.

"Okay, just send me to Lyoko. How are the others doing?"

"Nearing the tower. Ulrich just rendezvoused with them. I'll tell them to wait."

"Alright. Watch after Kiwi and Catherine." Odd opened the access to the ladder and climbed down. He stepped in the scanner.

"Transfer Odd. Scanner Odd. Virtualization!"

Odd landed behind the group on Lyoko. He observed his surroundings.

"Oh, Sector 5. How I missed you."

"Odd, now's not the time to be affectionate of Lyoko," Ulrich said. "Jeremie, got time to send us a few vehicles?"

"Yes, I do. More good news, the Skid's shields are back online, and my remote control torpedo launchers are operational. The Creepers are no more."

The Overwing, Overboard, and Overbike materialized in front of the gang. Aelita activated her wings and William turned into smoke. Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich climbed on their respective normal vehicles. The five traveled through the chamber. William landed on the platform directly in front of the tower.

"Ah!" The platform vanished beneath William feet, forcing him to return to smoke. He traveled back to the other end of the chamber and landed on the entrance platform.

"Jeremie, there's some sort of vanishing platforms everywhere. I can't sustain my Super Smoke long enough to go from platform to platform."

"That's fine William. The others can deactivate the tower without you."

William cringed hearing that. But it was true. He watched as Aelita entered the tower.

Back on Earth, Jeremie prepared the return to the past. The girl was still huddled in the corner and frightened out of her mind. He smiled at her.

"It's fine, you won't remember any of this."

"Why not?"

Jeremie looked back at the screen. The tower was deactivated.

"Because of this." He activated the return trip. The group found themselves back at lunch.

William gladly ate his food this time around. Jeremie came in and sat down at the table with the others.

"Another XANA attack repelled, huh guys?" Odd said. He looked at the clock. He gasped, seeing it was 12:00, and ran out, leaving his tray of food.

Yumi looked at the nearly full tray. "He left his food? Is Odd possessed?" The others laughed.

"There's a first for everything," Ulrich said, watching Odd out the window.

**YES! Hahahahaha I'm so glad I found my notebook. So apparently, Evolution has revealed some things about Lyoko not previously known. So I might integrate some of those technicalities. The funny thing is, it's killing me to write these introductions. The action's just starting. It hasn't even started getting fanficky yet.**


	4. L'épreuve de Force

**I don't have anything to say except that this fanfiction will take forever. :P**

Episode 4: L'épreuve de Force

Jeremie woke up at 5 in the morning to a beeping computer. The SuperScan was going off yet again. He didn't even bother changing; he grabbed his computer and ran to the factory in his pajamas. At the bridge, he pulled out his phone and called Aelita, asking her to tell the others of the attack.

"Do you know what the attack is yet?" Aelita asked.

"No, but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." He hung up and swung down to the factory floor. He wasted no time getting down to the lab.

He went to the monitor and began typing astonishingly fast, pulling up the three Overvehicles on Lyoko early.

He wasn't even aware that the elevator was coming down until somebody stepped out. He whipped around, shocked to see William standing there.

"What are you doing, William? Get to the scanners!"

William only laughed. Jeremie saw the Eye of XANA flash in his eyes.

"No, you can't be possessed William...you've been to Lyoko!" William came closer. Jeremie ran to the other side of the room and grabbed thick sheet of metal. He launched it at William, forcing him back into the elevator. He slammed against the wall and fell. Jeremie ran over and activated the elevator. William stood up just as the door closed, and the elevator went back up.

As XANA-William, who was in reality a polymorphing specter, reached the factory floor, he changed shapes to become Odd's Lyoko form. It stepped out in front of the elevator and watched as the rest of the gang swung to the factory floor. XANA-Odd stood in front of the elevator and sparked with electricity. The others were taken aback at the sight of Odd's Lyoko form.

"What is that!" Odd did not seem to take kindly to his Lyoko form confronting him.

The specter began firing laser arrows at the group. They all fled in different directions, the arrows striking all around them.

"Get to the scanners!" Ulrich yelled. "I'll take care of the specter!" Ulrich grabbed a 2x4 from a pile of debris and swung it at the specter. It struck the wood aside with its giant paws and charged at Ulrich, launching him at the far wall. William ran over and tackled the laughing XANA-Odd.

Meanwhile, Jeremie had just sent the rest of the gang to Lyoko. Aelita, Odd, and Yumi landed in the Ice sector near their vehicles. They ran to the vehicles, only to have a barrage of lasers land in front of them. The three jumped back as a squadron of Hornets strafed them.

"Bugs!" Odd fired laser arrows at the monsters. The six Hornets dodged and unleashed another volley of lasers upon them. The three warriors hid behind an ice formation nearby as lasers pummeled the ground. Yumi quickly ran out and threw her fans at the Hornets. She hit the leader of the squadron square in the Eye. It blew up, and the rest of the squadron followed.

"That's new," Odd said.

Aelita nodded. "I don't recall we've ever gone for the leader first." The two joined Yumi in the open.

"Jeremie, we can see the tower from here," Aelita said.

Jeremie didn't respond for a second. He then cut in. "There are three Tarantulas headed your way."

"Roger, commander," Odd said. Three unmistakable shapes came into view. Odd aimed at the spider-like monsters. The closest one stood up and fired from both of its legs simultaneously. Odd rolled to the side, only to have the second Tarantula do the same and hit him square in the chest. Sparks flew from the point of impact.

"That's 40 life points Odd!"

"Yeah, I got it Einstein." The third Tarantula prepared to follow the first two's actions and stood up. Odd activated his shield. The lasers slammed into the energy projection with a blinding red flash.

"Energy field!"

A pink orb flew by Odd's head and hit the lead Tarantula. It exploded in a flash. The remaining two looked to each other and grunted, gesturing towards the three.

Odd watched as the two kneeled down. The Tarantulas charged their lasers simultaneously and fired them upon the group. Odd fell prone, Yumi cartwheeled to the side, and Aelita blocked with an energy shield.

The Overvehicles were still behind the monsters. Aelita used her creativity to create a wall of ice encircling the two monsters. All three of the warriors dashed for the vehicles. Odd hopped on the Overboard and flew over the Tarantulas, firing into their ice enclosure. The first Tarantula went down, and a Tessen fan came flying in, taking the second out.

"You see that, Einstein? That's how we do it." Odd whizzed by Aelita and Yumi.

"Watch me kick flip, girls," he said. He flipped the Overboard and landed back on it triumphantly.

"Odd, don't forget there's an activated tower out there." Aelita came up beside Odd on the Overbike.

"I'm sure Ulrich and William are fine," Odd replied.

"Ulrich and William?" Jeremie cut in. "I thought William was possessed. I sent him to the factory floor in the elevator."

"He walked to the factory with us. When we got to the elevator, there was a clone of Odd's Lyoko form," Yumi said.

"Ah, it must have been a polymorphing specter." Jeremie pulled up the factory security cameras. Sure enough, William and Ulrich were fighting a clone of Odd. The fight had progressed to the assembly line. William chunked a large metal object at the specter, who caught it and sent it back electrified. William crashed against the wall.

"Hurry up with that tower, guys! William and Ulrich aren't doing too hot with Odd the second."

"We're close now, Jeremie," Aelita informed him. The three stopped next to the tower and got off their vehicles. As they approached it, a figure began materializing on Lyoko.

It was the Basilisk. The monster growled at them at charged Odd, swinging its sword arms at him. Odd leapt to the side. Yumi threw a fan at the monster, but it ducked and fired a laser from its mouth. Yumi dodged, but the monster jumped over her and stabbed her in the back.

"Fools. You are weak," the Basilisk taunted. Odd ran at the monster. When it swung at him, he dove between its legs, but when he came up behind the Basilisk, it ejected spines at him. Odd was devirtualized.

"No!" Jeremie cried. "Aelita, hold out for a bit, I'll try to see if we can get Ulrich or William down here."

Aelita complied, fleeing from the monster into tunnel system nearby.

On Earth, Odd and Yumi stepped out of the elevator into the lab. Jeremie didn't glance up as they entered.

"Go help Ulrich and William. We need one of them on Lyoko, or both. Last time I checked, they were fighting in the assembly room."

"Can do." Yumi punched the button, bringing the elevator back to ground level. The two only needed to follow the loud cries and crashes to find the two still battling the specter, who had Ulrich by the collar.

Yumi charged XANA-Odd, kicking out its feet. Ulrich fell to the floor with a thud. She followed up with a swift side kick as it stood up. The specter went flying into a conveyor belt.

"Jeremie needs you two on Lyoko," Odd said. He ducked as the specter threw a piece of machinery.

William gestured to the collapsed Ulrich, "Take Ulrich, he's out of service here. I can keep fighting."

"Not alone," Odd said, adopting a fighting stance. Yumi nodded, hefting Ulrich over her shoulder to the elevator. Odd and William brought their attention back to the specter. William grabbed a wrench from a pile of scrap and handed it to Odd.

"Alright, big boy, let's rumble!" Odd cried.

Down in the scanner room, Yumi placed Ulrich in the scanner. The doors closed immediately. Jeremie was wasting no time. Ulrich was virtualized immediately. He landed on Lyoko in a heap, regaining awareness when he hit the ground.

"You were unconscious, Ulrich," Jeremie informed him, answered Ulrich's unasked question. "Aelita's being chased through the sector by the Basilisk. They've gone into the tunnels in that plateau ahead."

"I'm on my way. Super Sprint!" Ulrich dashed off into the tunnels. He slowed as he entered the slippery warren. He could hear the monster firing its laser at Aelita.

He cried out to Aelita. "Get out of the tunnels!" he yelled, following the continuing laser fire. Eventually, he slid out into open air, landing on the ground. Aelita was next to Ulrich. The Basilisk was in front of them, no more than fifty feet away.

Ulrich unsheathed both of his swords and adopted a fighting crouch. The Basilisk's sword appendages glowed blood red.

"Triplicate!" Ulrich formed two clones of himself. The Basilisk only laughed. In mirror image of Ulrich's move, it created two of its own clones. Ulrich recalled his clones, seeing how that would not work out. He charged at the monster, swinging his dual blades with ferocity. The monster swung back and brought its tail around. Ulrich legs were knocked out from under him. As the monster came nearer he planted his hands on the ground and kicked the Basilisk backwards and onto the ground.

Ulrich was the first to his feet, making a run-by attack at the Basilisk. The monster swung at his head lazily, as if it were a game. Ulrich tucked his head down, and his anger intensified. Ulrich turned and faced the Basilisk again. It fired lasers at him rapidly, but these he easily deflected and absorbed with his katanas.

Suddenly the Basilisk charged, swinging its swords with astonishing speed. Red and blue energy clashed as the swords came into contact with each other. The Basilisk was trying to overwhelm Ulrich with sheer force and speed.

Aelita watched as the duel raged all around the tower. She knew better than to interfere, less she break Ulrich's concentration. Neither seemed to be gaining the advantage. Ulrich was fighting too much on instinct. XANA was a logical program, and its monsters acted on the same logic. Making illogical moves would be the only way to gain the advantage. She just hoped Ulrich would realize that.

Apparently, that had not dawned upon Ulrich yet, who fired lasers from his katanas at the Basilisk. It absorbed the shots into its swords and sent them back at Ulrich, glowing red. Ulrich rolled to the side just as they flew by his head. The Basilisk leaped at Ulrich with amazing agility for all its bulk, striking downward as it neared him.

Ulrich backflipped and blocked as the monster swung again at him. The recoil threw him back a bit. He parried blow after blow, growing tired of the fight. He unexpectedly spun and delivered a swift roundhouse kick to the Basilisk's head, then side kicked it as his other leg came around. It landed face-down, and a large layer of ice formed over it. Ulrich looked over to Aelita, who winked at him. He smiled as he approached the trapped monster.

"You can't keep this up forever," the Basilisk said. "XANA will find you off-guard. And when he does, it will be the end for you."

Ulrich ignored the threat and drove his left-hand katana deep into the Basilisk's Eye. The monster imploded and sent out a wave of energy.

"All yours, Princess." Ulrich looked to the tower. Aelita ran and entered the tower. Ulrich watched as the ripples slowly disappeared.

Back at the assembly line, the specter had taken down Yumi and William, who were slumped over unconscious. Odd swung at it with a pole.

"You want a piece of me, er...me?" The specter shot laser arrows at him, striking Odd in the thigh and burning through his clothes. It charged at Odd, claws ready. Odd winced as the specter swung, but nothing happened. The specter blew apart.

A white bubble then came through, encompassing the scene.

**I've been waiting to write that fight out. YES! Please review!**


	5. New Divide

**:)**

Episode 5: New Divide

Ulrich trudged around the recreation yard. He could see William talking to Yumi over by the drink machine. They laughed frequently. Yumi promised there would be plenty of "good times" when they shut down the supercomputer, but now that XANA was back, William was getting all her attention.

William caught Ulrich's eye and waved. Ulrich just turned and started walking back to his room before Yumi turned around.

Sissi caught Ulrich as he gloomily walked by. She grabbed his arm, surprising him. He had been in deep thought.

"Is something wrong, Ulrich?" She was trying as hard as possible to get on his good side.

He sighed. "No, it's nothing. Just leave me alone for now." He continued his walk of moping. When he reached his room, Kiwi was at the door. The dog wagged its tail violently when Ulrich walked in. Odd was sleeping with his face in his pillow. Ulrich laid down in his bed and pulled the covers over his head.

Down the hall, Aelita and Jeremie were in the latter's room, preparing the Skidbladnir. Jeremie had searched the Network, and didn't like what he saw. XANA had hundreds of still-functioning Replikas. Many of them were relatively new, and some had existed for some time. This was puzzling.

The bell rang, interrupting Jeremie's thoughts. He closed his laptop and headed to class with Aelita. Odd and Ulrich joined them. Ulrich said nothing. Odd complained about how little lunch had offered, despite having three trays of food.

Literature class was uneventful. Ulrich stared out of the window for a majority of it, until Ms. Kensington brought him back into things with a scolding.

After Ms. Kensington's class, the freshmen parted ways. Jeremie and Ulrich went to Spanish, Odd went to Latin, and Aelita went to German.

Ulrich saw William along the way. He looked straight ahead as William said hello to him and Jeremie.

"What was that all about?" Jeremie inquired.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Ulrich said.

"Don't go Jim on me, what is it?" Jeremie wasn't giving up. "It obviously has to do with William."

Ulrich sighed. He didn't even bother trying to answer. Throughout Spanish he just drew in his notebook without a point. He was so relieved when last period ended.

The gang met at the science building, then headed for the sewer cover. They headed through the sewers to the factory. All six of them headed down to the lab, where Jeremie explained the operation.

"Lately, I've been working to get us back into the World Network," he said, regarding the monitor, where the Skidbladnir's profile was pulled up. "I improved the Deep Scan program to identify how long a supercomputer has been in use. Many of the Replikas I found had fairly new supercomputers. Others had older ones, which should have been destroyed with XANA. That is why today, I am sending you to one of these older supercomputers. Get to the scanners!"

The others complied, going down to the scanner room. Aelita, Odd, and Ulrich went in first, followed by Yumi and William.

They landed in the Mountain sector. The five looked around, confused, trying to figure out what had happened.

"Jeremie, I think Sector 5 got a little rocky," Odd remarked.

"I know, I know. I don't know what happened. You'll have to use the Transport Orb. If I try transferring you directly to Sector 5, you might wind up in the Digital Sea. Head to the edge of the sector, and I'll enter the code SCIPIO."

"We're near the other end of the sector, Jeremie," Aelita informed him. "It's a long walk."

"Use the towers. All the normal towers lead to the way tower near the edge of the sector. The nearest one isn't far, go northeast."

The group took off through the sector, jumping on floating platforms and through mountains. They stopped when they came to a maze within one of the mountains.

"Wonderful," Ulrich growled. He dashed ahead. "Super Sprint!"

"Ulrich, stop! You'll get lost!" Yumi cried. But Ulrich ignored her, running through the maze. He made another right turn and came out on the other side.

"Guys, Ulrich made it through. I tracked him, so I'll guide you along his path," Jeremie informed them. He guided them around bends, left and right, until they exited the maze and joined Ulrich.

The tower was just in sight. The warriors were just about to enter when a monster began materializing. The monster landed with a loud thunk, roaring at the group. It had two large, muscled legs, a small body and head with a long armored beak extending from it, and a tail with a large stinger on the end. Two Bloks materialized beside it, with a darker color scheme than normal for the monsters.

Odd was off as soon as the Bloks hit the ground.

"I'll distract the Scorpion, you guys can handle the Bloks!' Odd cried as he fired laser arrows at the armored monster.

"Scorpion?" William charged his Zweihander and swung at the left Blok. The monster skittered to the side, and the blast hit the tower.

Odd extended his claws and swiped at the muscular legs of the Scorpion. "You name it if you don't like my name then!" The monster swung at Odd with its tail. Odd jumped back and fired at the Eye on the beak. He hit the middle of the Eye of XANA, and the monster froze. The armor dissipated, revealing a shorter beak with another Eye. The Scorpion lashed out again.

Meanwhile, the others were finding out what made the dark Bloks so special. Ulrich and Aelita fought the Blok on the right, while Yumi and William fought the one the left.

Ulrich swung at the Blok, striking it in the Eye, but the protrusion just turned from grey to white. Ulrich, annoyed, stabbed at it again, but it jumped aside. The monsters were more agile than the average Blok. The main Eye glowed bright red, and a laser beam shot out in a continuous stream. The Blok turned its head to Aelita and Ulrich, who kept fleeing, only a bit ahead of the laser. They came upon a rock, and took cover behind it. Aelita peered around the rock and shot an energy field at the monster. It dodged again.

"Grr." Ulrich formulated his own plan as he watched the monster fire at Odd, free of their distraction..

"Triplicate!" Ulrich and his clones ran at the dark Blok, then ran around it in a triangle. The Blok activated its beam laser, taking down the two clones, Ulrich lashed out at the Blok from behind, but it shot a freeze ray at him. It charged its beam laser again.

"Energy field!" The monster blew apart as Aelita's energy field hit it.

Odd was still dodging the Scorpion's lasers and tail lashes. He dove underneath it. The Scorpion began stomping the ground, causing small cracks to form. Odd rolled out and fired at its beak, hitting it right in the Eye. It fell to the ground and blew apart. Seeing Yumi and William's lack of progress with the Blok, he leapt at it, claws extended, and drove his sharp extensions into the Blok's eye. Another explosion.

"Any more surprises we should know about?" Yumi asked Jeremie.

"No, but I wouldn't suggest waiting around for any more. Get in the tower!" William swung his Zweihander at the ice at Ulrich's feet, freeing him. The five warriors heeded Jeremie's words, quickly entering the tower. Aelita led the way, jumping off the platform into the data tunnel below. The others followed, and they soon landed on another platform.

"Keep going," Aelita said. "We have seven more towers to go. Make sure you guide yourself forward." She jumped off again, and moved forward. The group tower-hopped until Aelita signaled them to stop.

"This is it?" William started walking towards the wall of the tower.

Aelita nodded. The group exited. Outside waited more monsters: the Basilisk and three Tarantulas. William and Aelita went after the Basilisk, and the remaining three engaged the Tarantulas.

"So nice to see you, William," the Basilisk hissed. "I have been doing your job as leader of these lesser creatures." It gestured to the Tarantulas.

William swung his sword at the monster, who crossed his sword appendages to block the oversized weapon. Aelita fired an energy field. The Basilisk blocked with his right arm, keeping William blocked with the left. It brought its other arm back around and knocked William's Zweihander away from him.

William shot black smoke at his sword, summoning it back. The Basilisk jumped on it, keeping it in place. William grabbed the daggers from his belt and reduced to smoke, shooting through the ground at the Basilisk. He came up, forcing the monster back as he swung his daggers at it.

Aelita, observing the fight, shifted the landscape with her creativity, separating the ground William and the Basilisk were on away from the Zweihander. She tried picking up the sword, but it was much too heavy, so she only picked up the hilt, dragging the end of the blade. William jumped off his floating platform, just as the Basilisk leapt at him. He retrieved his sword and shot a blast at the platform, knocking the Basilisk off-balance. Aelita focused on the platform again. The color quickly faded away, followed by virtual structure. The Basilisk fell into the Void below.

Ulrich had successfully managed to defeat the Tarantula that confronted him, and was assisting Odd. Yumi was still working on it. William rushed over to the combat zone, standing between Yumi and the Tarantula, blocking its fire.

Yumi decided to use her new power. She closed her eyes and focused on herself, much as she would when using telekenesis. When she opened her eyes, she saw nothing of herself. Yet she could feel where she was. She knew exactly where her arms and her fans were. But the color began fading back. She focused again on becoming invisible, and she vanished again.

Keeping her mind on the invisibility, she wandered towards the Tarantula, coming up behind it. William was still blocking the shots, unaware she was no longer behind him. She ended the invisibility, throwing two Tessen fans at the monster. The first overshot it, but the second hit the Eye. It blew apart as her fans boomeranged back and she caught them.

She looked over to see Odd gripping the back of the remaining Tarantula. Ulrich was trying to stab it, but it was thrashing everywhere. Yumi threw another fan. It struck the Tarantula in the body, but it blew up. Odd and Ulrich must have dealt enough damage beforehand.

"XANA really doesn't want you to get into the World Network," Jeremie said. "He must've bugged the virtualization program as well."

"Well, we defeated all the monsters he sent our way," William bragged.

"Head to the edge of the sector ahead. I'm entering the code." Jeremie pulled up the Carthage Transportation Program and typed in the code SCIPIO. A confirmation tone sounded and the window closed.

Back on Lyoko, a large white orb came out of the clouds. On it was a large blue Eye of XANA.

William summoned his Zweihander as it approached. Aelita laughed at him.

"Don't worry, William, the Transport Orb isn't even a free-thinking entity." The orb's back disappeared as it engulfed the five, and flew off. It traveled through the outer data around Sector 5 and made its way through the Core Zone, dropping them off in the arena.

The group ran to the elevator and rode it to the Skid's hangar. They got off, and Aelita, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi stepped on their respective energizing pads. William stepped on the remaining one.

Jeremie pulled up the Energize program and launched it. A column of light appeared in place of each Lyoko warrior, and they appeared inside the Skid.

William regarded his NavSkid position unhappily. When in the Network, he would be on bottom.

"Why can't Odd get the NavSkid on bottom? He's the most annoying," William said.

"Annoying? I think you mean charming, William. And who took out the Scorpion and saved your butt from a dark Blok? Plus, all the ladies love a good Della Robbia. What would Aelita do if she couldn't see me from the cockpit?"

Jeremie cut in. "Alright, enough banter Odd. Whenever you're ready Aelita." He disengaged the mooring.

Aelita fired the thrusters, lifting the Skidbladnir out of the dock and the blue ball of the sector. Jeremie activated the Carthage Tunnel System, disintegrating the nearest tunnel. Aelita guided the Skid into the whirlpool of binary codes left behind.

The ship came out above the Digital Sea in the Forest, the digital waters glowing yellow-green.

"Nice change of scenery, Aelita," Odd remarked. "I was expecting the Desert again."

Ulrich had just about had it with Odd. "Odd, shut up. You don't have to narrate the entire thing."

"Calm down, Ulrich. What's your deal today?" William knew something was up since Ulrich ignored him lunch.

"Enough, everybody!" Aelita shouted. "We have a mission, and let's stay focused on that." She typed in a code on the keypad. "Prepare to dive."

The Skid plunged into the water. Aelita guided it through until she came to the gate. It opened, and the Skid eased out. The bottom half rotated, so that it pointed forward. Aelita re-engaged the engines and steered to the nearest hub, under Jeremie's direction.

"High-speed acceleration in three, two, one." The Skid shot into the hub and through the tunnel systems until it came out in another section of the Network. There were many more structures here.

"Jeremie, are you sure you've given us the right coordinates? There are a lot of structures here."

"I know, Aelita. I didn't think XANA would utilize a supercomputer in a populated area, but it seems he has. The Replika should come into view soon."

Suddenly, the calm blue waters turned red. Two Sharks approached the Skid. Aelita pulled all four levers back, releasing the NavSkids.

"Did anyone order fish today?" Odd joked. "No? Then I guess we'll have to send the order back!" He fired two torpedoes at one of the Sharks. It barrel-rolled to the left and fired back. Odd waited until the last moment and pulled up, narrowly missing the torpedo.

"Three Kongers coming from the left," William said. The Shark swam past Odd, towards the Skid.

"Oh no you don't." Odd went full-speed, only slowing down when he was right behind the monster. He pulled back a little bit and fired. The Shark blew apart.

Odd's victory was short-lived though. A Konger zoomed past him, followed by Yumi. She dodged their shots and tried losing them among the tunnels and structures, to no avail. Odd shot after them.

Ulrich was tackling the problem of the other Shark. He had yet to gain an advantage over it. He raced to an area saturated with tunnels. He pulled up at the last possible moment. The Shark was not so lucky, and crashed into the tunnels, exploding. Ulrich turned around and followed his map to Yumi's position.

William had already taken out one Konger. The other, however, was smarter than its comrade. It doubled back whenever a torpedo was coming at it.

William grew tired of fooling with the eel-like creature. He fired another set of torpedoes. The Konger doubled back once again, firing lasers at the NavSkid. Instead of moving, William increased his speed and rammed the Konger. The monster spun uncontrollably away from him. William locked on and fired. It was a direct hit.

Yumi raced by, followed by another Konger, in turn followed by Ulrich and Odd. Ulrich fired, followed a split-second later by Odd. The Konger evaded Ulrich's torpedoes, but not Odd's. It blew apart.

The Network returned to blue. Aelita recalled the NavSkids, which reattached to the Skid. They continued on their course until a large ball came into view. Aelita stopped at the gate and activated the Key. The Replika's access gate opened slowly.

"Ice sector, and I'll put money on that!" Odd said as they entered the Replika. The Skid came out of the water in a copy of the Mountains.

"How much money again, Odd?" Yumi laughed as the Skid maneuvered around the sector. After finding a tower, Aelita docked the Skidbladnir there.

"Alright, I'm sending William and Aelita to the supercomputer. Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi will stay with the Skid."

William and Aelita teleported to a large room. Around them were thick pipes. They wandered out of the room and into a small hallway.

"William, Aelita, do you read me?" Jeremie said.

"Loud and clear." William ran down the hallway to an overlook. There were large turbines in pools of water in the room below.

"I think we're in some sort of hydroelectricity plant," Aelita informed Jeremie. "All the signs are in Polish, though."

"The supercomputer is tracking your position to Warsaw. Some abandoned hydroelectric plant on the fringes of the city. However, there aren't any available plans for the building that I can find, even by a Kiwi Search."

"I think we can find our way," Aelita said. The two turned around and went to the other end of the hallway. The door there was sealed tight. Aelita put her hand on the console.

The door clicked as it unlocked. Jeremie abruptly cut in as soon the console lit up.

"Activated tower on the Replika! XANA's attacking!"

The plant shook all around William and Aelita. The door sighed open. Inside stood a large crab-like creature. It stood up, and two appendages sprouted from its back. The monster fired lasers from the appendages, forcing William and Aelita to take cover behind a stack of crates..

Meanwhile, Jeremie was fretting over the activated tower. Aelita and William were translated, and they were the only ones capable of deactivating it. Then, just as quickly as it activated, the tower deactivated.

"What? Aelita, William, the tower just deactivated. Anything happen on your end?"

William ducked behind a pipe as the monster fired at Aelita. "The monster here got more aggressive. That's about it." He charged his sword and shot at the left laser appendage. It exploded in a flash. The other had been destroyed by Aelita earlier.

Without weapons, the crab-like monster began charging at Aelita and William. Aelita threw an energy field at its head. The monster froze and began glowing. It blew into large pieces that flew in all directions. Aelita looked to William, who nodded. The supercomputer was in the room ahead, they were sure of it.

Aelita hacked the console of the door and entered the supercomputer room. Glowing wires were everywhere. One monitor sat in the corner, and the computer at the far end of the room. Aelita headed to the monitor. She browsed through data until she found a history file.

"I found a file containing an outline of the supercomputer's data usage, Jeremie. I'm transferring it to you via the Skid now."

The download took less than a second. Jeremie closed the window and transferred everyone back to the Skidbladnir. Aelita steered out of the Replika and brought the Skid back to its hangar on Lyoko. After being materialized, the gang met back in the lab.

"A quick look at the history of XANA's supercomputer in Warsaw shows that it was very active before we presumably destroyed XANA. In fact, according to this file, it was one of the Replikas used to create the Kolossus. Then the Replika goes completely inactive for a month.

"But then it starts using data again. There's no explanation except a shutdown of the computer. XANA must've been onto us and shut down several of his Replikas to make sure he survived. The question is, how did it reactivate?"

"The plant was in a populated city," Yumi said. "All it would take is a couple of kids who were nosing around to reactivate it."

Jeremie sighed. "I think there is more to this mystery than we see."

**Oh, the Ulrich-William tension. It's going to be short-lived, if anyone really gets what I'm hinting at.**


	6. Ambush

**I'm sorry Ulrich fans.**

Episode 6: Ambush

It was a normal morning at the Ishiyama residence. Yumi and Hiroki were getting ready for school. As Yumi pulled on her turtleneck, her cell phone rang. On the other end of the house, she heard her mother screaming.

"Hiroki! What on earth are you doing!" Hearing her mother's frantic cries, Yumi quickly answered her phone.

"Activated tower, Yumi," Jeremie said. Just then, Hiroki burst into her room. The Eye of XANA was clearly visible in his eyes.

"I noticed. He's possessed Hiroki." Her brother shot lightning at her and leapt. She ducked, dropping her phone, but he continued forward, jumping out the window.

She picked her phone back up. "What a great start to the week. I'm on my way." She ran down the staircase, where her mother laid unconscious against the wall. There were some serious bruises on her head. Yumi was then glad her father had already left for work. She dashed out her house and down Rue des Monts Clairs. She had to get to the factory by the streets.

Ulrich was, once again, moping when Jeremie called Odd. Ulrich turned over in bed. Odd picked up Kiwi's food bowl and chunked it at Ulrich's head. It made a dull thud upon contact.

"Odd! Are you crazy! What is your problem?"

"XANA's attacking, we gotta go." Odd opened the door and motioned for Ulrich to follow. He obliged, walking behind Odd.

Aelita and Jeremie were already at the factory. Jeremie pulled up the SuperScan, only to find no activated tower.

"What? There was just one in the Forest sector!" Jeremie shut down the program and rebooted it. No activated tower showed up again.

"I can go look on foot if you'd like, Jeremie. I doubt XANA would just call off his attack."

"No, wait for the others... We can't risk anything."

"Risk? What are you talking about? It's a simple tower."

Jeremie sighed and turned to face Aelita. "Last night I did some digging around in the Network. I found some odd traces that were very closely linked to Lyoko, more than XANA. We were going to go investigate today, but XANA must have found out."

"Why would it matter though?"

"Because, Aelita, the last time I saw these signs, it was your father..."

"You mean-"

Jeremie nodded. "I think Franz Hopper is still alive. But for now, we need to focus on the task at hand." The elevator clacked at it opened. Yumi, Ulrich, William, and Odd stood in it. Jeremie looked back to the screen and nodded, without looking up. Aelita joined the others and went to the scanner room. The five landed in the Forest.

Ahead was a bright orange bubble of energy. The pulsations in the ground were leading right up to it.

"What is that?" William looked to the others, who seemed only mildly surprised by it.

"It's a Guardian," Aelita said. "XANA must have hidden the tower with it."

Yumi grimaced. She did not have pleasant memories of Guardians at all, having been trapped in one.

"What do we do, Jeremie?" Ulrich asked.

"Same as always with Guardians. Make a copy of the target."

William snorted. "Yeah, just make a copy of the tower, it's only ten times your size."

"Hey!" Odd shoved William. "I'm the jokester around here, don't steal my role!" A Kankrelat materialized behind William. Odd aimed between his legs at the Kankrelat.

"Whoa! What are you doing!" William yelled, just as a laser arrow flew between his legs and destroyed the monster.

Odd winked. "You can thank me later, pretty boy." The group assumed a fighting stance, ready for more monsters. None came.

"Jeremie, where are all the monsters?" Yumi looked around again. No monsters were in sight, save the Guardian. "We've only encountered one Kankrelat."

"I don't know," Jeremie answered. "Seize the opportunity and take down the Guardian."

"I'll stay back here with William to handle any surprises XANA sends our way," Odd said. Aelita, Yumi, and Ulrich ran across a log to the Guardian. Aelita knelt and focused all her energy on the tower, willing a copy of it to appear outside of the Guardian.

Another tower materialized right where Aelita wanted it to. The Guardian began moving, expanding to consume the clone of the tower as well. The glowing orange energy bubble began spasmodically twitching, then blew apart in a blinding flash.

No one had moved a step forward when the ugly form of the Basilisk materialized. It took one look at Ulrich and charged him. Two Tarantulas and Krabs materialized behind it, blocking access to the tower.

"Go!" The Basilisk gestured to Yumi and Aelita. The monsters came at them, assaulting them with laser fire. Three Hornets materialized, joining the fray, followed by a Megatank.

"XANA really wants to keep you from the tower," Jeremie observed. I'm sending the vehicles.

Ulrich was not having a very good time with the Basilisk. It had adapted to his fighting style since their last combat, easily blocking his moves. The four swords clashed together. Ulrich tried forcing the monster back, but it was far too strong for that.

Ulrich blocked as the Basilisk swung with both arms, parried another stroke, and kicked the monster back. He sprinted to a tree and launched himself off, swinging at the Basilisk with intense fury. He slammed the handle of his right sword into the monster's chest. The Basilisk went staggering backward.

Ulrich grinned, and prepared to deliver the fatal blow. But a laser blast from behind knocked one of his swords out of his hand. A Manta flew overhead. Ulrich wasted one moment too many glancing at it, and the Basilisk shoved him back. He growled, back right where he started, blocking blows and thrusting at the agile monster.

The other four had gained no advantage over the monsters they were battling. They had destroyed one Hornet so far. The Megatank was constantly charging them, preventing any form of coordinated attack. All they could do is fire and hope to hit.

Odd watched as the Megatank opened its casing. He aimed at the Eye. Then a laser slammed into him from his left. A Krab stood over him, and was charging its laser again. The ventral lasers took 80 points of damage, so any of the monsters could kill him in one blow now. He slid under the Krab the charging reached its peak.

Odd extended the claws in his glove and stabbed the underbelly of the monster. It staggered about and blew into fragments of shell. He punched the air victoriously, giving a Hornet just enough time to get a shot in. Odd faded away. Yumi threw her fans at the Hornet, making contact on the first hit.

The Megatank charged its laser again and aimed at William, who was busy deflecting a Tarantula's fire.

Aelita yelled as the Megatank fired and threw an energy field at the Tarantula to attract its attention.

William lifted his giant sword in front of him and intercepted the pulse laser. Bright energy sparked everywhere as the laser and sword remained locked. He began losing ground as the laser started overpowering him. The remaining Krab charged in and fired at William, hitting him square in the back. He dropped his sword from the force of the impact, letting the Megatank's laser cut clean through him, devirtualizing him.

Jeremie slammed his head on the keyboard. "I don't believe this!" He watched the screen as Yumi and Aelita engaged the remaining six monsters.

Aelita ran and fled behind a tree as the Tarantulas continuously fired at her. She focused on the closer one, freezing it in place. Aelita threw an energy field at it and activated her wings as it exploded.

Yumi jump atop the other Tarantula and sliced the Eye with her fan. She jumped off just as the Megatank fired. Yumi watched the Megatank and Krab as they both charged their lasers. They fired simultaneously. She dived to the right and threw her fans at the Megatank. It closed its shell too late, the first fan struck home. It blew apart violently.

The Krab charged at Yumi, trying to stab her. She backflipped and cartwheeled out of the way of the sharp legs. The Krab was faster at attacking than Yumi was, so she quickly threw her fans at it, not taking care to aim. One of its front legs sliced off, crippling the monster. She caught her fans and threw them back at the monster, barely hitting the Eye.

A sudden laser blast shot Aelita out of the sky. A Manta had joined the Hornets in their aerial assault. The Hornets shot pools of acid at the two as the Manta came up behind, laying mines.

Jeremie tried warning them. 'Yumi! Aelita!" Too late. The explosion of the mines consumed both of them. As soon as the two were on Earth, the tower deactivated.

But the Basilisk still wasn't backing down. It kept fighting Ulrich, forcing him closer and closer to the edge of the sector. XANA's intent was clear to Jeremie now.

"Ulrich, back down! You're the target! XANA lured us to Lyoko with the activated tower. Disengage the Basilisk so I can materialize you!"

Ulrich ignored Jeremie and kept fighting the Basilisk. "I can take him! I'm not weak!"

Jeremie couldn't believe what Ulrich was doing. He tried materializing the Overbike, but Ulrich ignored it and kept fighting.

Yumi grabbed Jeremie's headset. "Ulrich, this isn't about proving how strong you are. XANA wants to get rid of you! He's trying to force you into the Digital Sea! Listen to Jeremie!"

Ulrich swung at the Basilisk and ran past it to retrieve his sword. The monster fired its laser at him and batted him down with its sword-arms. With its sharp-clawed feet it pinned Ulrich to the ground. The void was only a few feet away. Ulrich struggled to wrench free, to no avail.

The Basilisk kicked Ulrich off the edge, sending him plummeting towards the Digital Sea. He disappeared from Jeremie's screen.

"Ulrich!" Jeremie cried. "No, this can't be happening!" He activated a search program, targeting Ulrich's virtual DNA. No traces were found.

A hushed silence came upon the group. Jeremie looked at the solemn faces of the others.

"We - we could try launching a return trip. Maybe that would work?" Odd suggested.

Jeremie knew it wouldn't, but they had to cover up the damage from Hiroki anyway. A quick check of the news showed he had caused chaos at Kadic. Jeremie pressed the enter key and launched the return.

It was 6 in the morning again. Jeremie began setting up a program to try bringing back Ulrich from the Digital Sea and materialize him, and another to create a clone of him. The sudden increase in intelligence would be hard to explain. But it had to be done.

Meanwhile, on Lyoko, XANA was completing its plan. A Guardian dropped off the unconscious body of Ulrich Stern in Sector 5. The Basilisk made sure it looked as if he had fallen into the void, when a Guardian had captured him in his fall.

XANA had been observing Ulrich and his actions for the past week. Tensions had been rising between Dunbar and Stern, and Ulrich had become uncooperative with most people. This was his flaw. XANA had taken full advantage of it. Humans and their petty emotions, what a waste.

A jellyfish creature entered the arena out of the Labyrinth. The Scyphozoa lifted the body up off the floor, injecting the same virus used on William into Ulrich. Ulrich was too easy to capture, so quick to act on his emotion. Well, he wouldn't have to deal with that now...

**Poor Ulrich. Poor poor Ulrich. Mooahahahahaha. I will be gone for two weeks starting on June 2nd. So I concentrated and did two back-to-back.**


	7. Treason

Episode 7: Treason

**So yeah, this one has two big moments for the gang. A little glimpse at the future.**

Odd woke up to loud banging on his dorm's door. Jim was yelling, demanding he open the door. Groggily, Odd hid Kiwi under his bed and opened the door.

"Della Robbia, there you are. I need to see Ulrich Stern."

Well, Odd was awake now. Ulrich was in the Digital Sea, cast into it by the Basilisk. He had to think of something quick.

"He left the room and went to walk in the park, Jim."

Jim looked skeptical. "Why would he do that?"

Odd kept building on the lie. "I don't know, he hasn't been himself lately. He just got up and left. He might have even been sleepwalking."

Jim growled and walked off. As he rounded the corner, Odd dashed for Jeremie's room. Jeremie was awake, at his computer. He turned as Odd walked in.

"I'm busy. If you want the answers to your Geometry homework, now is not the time. We have to deal with the problem of Ulrich."

"That is the problem." Odd shut the door. "Jim's looking for him."

Jeremie sighed and rubbed his temples. He had worked all night on a recovery program for Ulrich. Unfortunately, not a single trace of his atomic makeup was to be found anywhere on Lyoko. Aelita had returned an hour ago and checked each sector.

"Then I guess there's only one solution - a clone." And the clone had to be programmed now, before Jim got even more suspicious. Jeremie remembered last time Jim had a hunch...

Odd shook his head. "Don't you remember how bad William's clone was, and yours? Ulrich's clone might ask Sissi out, for all we know."

"Go back to bed. I'll sneak to the factory in thirty minutes to materialize the clone." Jeremie turned back to the computer. Odd headed back to his room and fall asleep quickly. Jeremie conducted one last search of Lyoko, just in case, and left it running as he snuck into the hallway. He dashed down the stairs and out into the recreation yard, making a beeline for the forest.

Upon arriving at the lab, Jeremie was surprised to see a new window open. The search had picked up a trace of Ulrich in Sector 5. He typed furiously, homing in on it. It was him.

Jeremie tried phoning the others. Odd didn't pick up, nor Yumi and Aelita. There was one left. Yumi had told him never to solely rely on William, but it had to be done. Sure enough, he picked up. Jeremie informed him of the situation.

"You spotted Ulrich? I'm on my way, I'm already 'boarding around the riverfront."

Jeremie hung up. He sighed heavily. This was a risky plan, sending William into Sector 5 alone. He needed some guidance. Jeremie was the only one here though. He sighed again and pulled up his digital profile. Jeremie had been editing it for some time.

William arrived in the lab as Jeremie started the scanners up. He initiated the auto-virtualization program, and indicated that two scanners would be occupied. He stepped in the elevator with William.

"Whoa, what're you doing Jeremie?" William looked sincerely shocked.

"I have to come with you. It's too dangerous alone." They both stepped in the scanners. Jeremie felt a surge of fear as the doors closed. He pushed it down as the process started.

William landed in the arena of Sector 5, followed by Jeremie. He was eager to see what he looked like. Jeremie stood behind him, admiring the changes from his ridiculous outfit he previously had.

His bodysuit was a light teal, with green here and there. All of his limbs had armor plates on them, with buttons on his forearms. His glasses were no longer transparent but white, hiding his eyes. Jeremie of course could see out of them, as well as control the supercomputer with them. He pulled up the map the scan had returned with a series of blinks. Ulrich's trace was deep within the Labyrinth.

"Follow me, William." Jeremie ran off at a surprising speed. William followed him through a series of corridors, jumping platforms and escaping vanishing platforms here and there.

Jeremie stopped at a long path in a large, empty chamber. At the end was a pedestal, with a glowing orb floating on it.

"That's it! That's the data we need to recover Ulrich!" Jeremie cried.

"Then what are we waiting for?" William dashed along the path.

"No William! Wait!" Too late, William was Super Smoking to the end of the pathway. When he came upon the orb, he put his hands on it. It disappeared. A window popped up in Jeremie's glasses. It should have had data pertaining to Ulrich, but it was nothing but a bunch of scrap.

They had been tricked. Suddenly, the room began altering. Jeremie ran to William, who summoned his sword. Jeremie charged his electrical fields, his unique power, and stood ready.

The platform split in half violently, separating the two warriors. Suddenly, the Scyphozoa appeared. It went straight for William. Again.

"William! Use your Super Smoke! Get away!" Jeremie cried. This was a nightmare..

William crouched down and held his sword in front of him. He could take the jellyfish today. He could feel it.

"Stop! You're nuts!" Jeremie yelled at William as the Scyphozoa approached the warrior.

"I can take him Jeremie! Trust me." The Scyphozoa was closing in. It lunged at William.

William's sword was a blur as it cleanly sliced through the monster's tentacles. The Scyphozoa shrieked and began retreating. William formed a ball of smoke in his hands.

Oh no. Not this time.

He shot the smoke at the Scyphozoa, sending it crashing into the far wall of the chamber. He Super Smoked to the monster, charged his sword, and swung at the despicable jellyfish. It made direct contact with the Eye of XANA.

The Scyphozoa began spasmodically twitching and glowing. William, still floating in midair, retreated as the glow got brighter and brighter. The monster exploded in a blinding flash of light, lighting up the chamber brilliantly.

William landed on the platform with Jeremie and used his smoke abilities to bring it to the chamber's entrance. Jeremie cried out suddenly.

"Ulrich!" He jumped back. "In the sector's tower!"

William's eyes widened. Everybody knew Ulrich had taken a plunge into the Void. How was he in Sector 5?

"Let's go then," William said as he hefted his sword over his shoulder.

Jeremie gave him a stern look. William wasn't ready for this, and Jeremie had only been coming to Lyoko in between school and XANA attacks.

"No, devirtualize me. We're bringing in the others."

"We can do this on our own, Jeremie. We don't need them. I just took out the Scyphozoa!"

"William, we can't take any chances. Ulrich is at stake here. Now devirtualize me."

"Couldn't you do that yourself with your fancy glasses?"

Jeremie growled. William decided not to argue further and swung his sword into Jeremie, who disappeared into virtual particles. Upon returning to Earth, Jeremie climbed the ladder to the lab. He phoned the other three. Odd didn't pick up again. Aelita told Jeremie she would wake the slumbering beast.

Meanwhile, William was keeping his cool on Lyoko.

"Keep it cool. Don't be a hothead like your first time," William said to himself as Aelita, Odd, and Yumi virtualized to Lyoko.

"William?" Yumi was surprised. "How long have you been here?"

"According to Jeremie, about an hour or so."

"_Alone?_" Yumi directed the question towards Jeremie.

"No, Jeremie came too. And I killed the Scyphozoa."

"Ha! And Jeremie passed the physical fitness test!" Odd laughed heartily.

"Very funny, Odd," Jeremie cut in, "but William is speaking the truth. I went to Lyoko with him so he wouldn't be alone like Yumi said not to let him. And he killed the Scyphozoa right in front of me."

William looked to Yumi, shocked that even now she didn't trust him. After everything he'd done, she still blamed him for being possessed.

"Sometimes I can't believe you Yumi. Try getting possessed by XANA, and then you can decide whether to trust me or not."

"Alright then..." Jeremie interrupted. They were wasting time anyways. "The tower isn't far now, take three lefts at the next three intersections and you should be there," Jeremie informed them.

William's sword dissipated and he Super Smoked to the first intersection. He didn't wait for the others, he took a left and came to the next. The corridor to the left had a laser field blocking it. William stood there until the others caught up.

"Laser field. What happens if you touch the lasers?"

"Twenty life points," Aelita said.

Jeremie check out the situation. These weren't the typical lasers that they had encountered before.

"I don't mean to correct you Aelita, but these lasers will actually cause immediate devirtualization. XANA's stepped up his game today."

"No problem for me." William returned to smoke and flew through the field. Aelita, Yumi, and Odd looked to each other. Yumi stepped forward and nodded. She ducked and jumped over the lasers carefully. When she came out on the other side, she motioned for Odd and Aelita to come. Aelita effortlessly navigated through.

Odd, on the other hand, had to focus more than he thought possible. He nearly lost his balance twice, then tripped, only to be saved by Yumi's telekenesis. Eventually, he came out of the lasers.

"You're just about there, guys, step on it!"

The four ran to the last intersection and down the hallway to the left. In front of them stood the tower, and a figure clad in yellow stumbling to them.

"Ulrich!" Yumi rushed to him. William leaped in front of her.

"It may be a trap. Don't let your guard down," he said.

"That's obviously him, William, move out of my way!" Yumi ran to Ulrich and caught him as he fell over.

"Yumi..." Ulrich weakly said.

"Are you all alright?" Yumi asked, grabbing his hand to help him up.

Ulrich's grasp on her hand tightened severely. Yumi gasped. The Eye of XANA began flickering on his forehead. Ulrich yanked Yumi forward and threw her to the ground. He pulled out his katanas, now glowing a malicious crimson red, and held them over her threateningly.

William charged into his possessed rival, knocking him off of the path. Ulrich stabbed his swords into the blue walls and leaped astonishingly high, landing in front of William. William swung at him, only for it to be parried. Odd and Aelita stood behind William, ready to assist. Ulrich suddenly began to glow dark red and disappeared as one of Yumi's fans flew through him.

"I think we know what happened to Ulrich," Odd said.

Jeremie sighed. "I'll bring you guys in now."

Back in the lab, Jeremie explained how he thought Ulrich had come to be under XANA's control. He theorized that XANA had implanted a bug as part of his attack to inhibit the localization program from finding Ulrich, and that he must have fallen onto a lower pathway, where XANA took control of him.

"Even if he didn't do it that way, it was a dirty trick XANA pulled on us. He fooled us twice and tried to take a second Lyoko Warrior for his minion. I think William deserves some credit," Jeremie said. Odd and Aelita clapped, but William simply walked into the elevator and went up to the bridge. He wasn't in the mood for congratulation.

Yumi walked up behind him and stood next to him. She didn't say anything, just looked at the river with him. After a while, she broke the silence.

"It was wrong of me to judge you after what you've been through. The truth is, I just didn't to lose you again. You're still a really good friend to me, even if your obsessive nature gets on my nerves. I was just a total hypocrite, rushing at him like that against what you said."

"You really like Ulrich, don't you?" William asked, turning to Yumi. She nodded slowly.

"I get it. If you don't want me to stand in the way of things, just say the word." He grabbed Yumi by the shoulders. "I promise, Jeremie, me, and the others are going to try to get him back as soon as we can."

Yumi smiled at William and hugged him.

"Thanks," she said, and ran off, back to her house. William grinned and walked back down to the factory to watch as Jeremie materialized the clone of Ulrich to Earth.

**I'd been meaning for a part like that earlier.**


End file.
